Bags packed.  Text message sent.  Willow hugged.  Everything was in order.  Buffy was officially on her way home.  She sat on the porch waiting for the familiar crunch of car  tires on gravel and the headlight beam to scan across the side of Willow and Faith’s place.  It was cold out, but Buffy was bundled up all cozy warm in a fuzzy jacket she’d gotten as a Christmas present.  Her other presents had been consolidated into a single gift bag that sat on next to her on the porch steps. The strangest of which had been a book.  No one had ever given her a book.  It was…  Well she wasn’t really sure how it made her feel, but she’d figure it out when she got home.  And boy was she ever ready to get home, to be a functioning part of the world again.

She’d finally been able to make it both up and down the stair all by herself with minimal pain, there was medicine for what soreness was left.  Her situation was manageable.  Her emotions were this weird sort of mix of feeling triumphant at being independent yet again and feeling ashamed that she was happy to be able to do something any normal person could do.  She certainly couldn’t go on regular patrols again, but she could fight if she needed to.  And then there were the other feelings and thoughts that ran through her head, clashing and clattering with the others there.  

Her head was filling up fast with the hectic-ness that was life.  She was excited to see Dawn and Spike, like maybe too excited.  She’d only admit to the excitement about her younger sister, saying she wanted to see Spike meant something else.  Something she didn’t know if she was ready to accept just yet.  The most she’d cop to was that she wanted to thank Spike for looking after Dawn while she was out of commission.  Buffy smiled at the resolution for a reason unknown to her.  She might’ve made some sort of joke to Willow about it if she’d been out there, but both of them thought it’d be best if Dawn didn’t have to see Willow or Faith when she arrived.  Dawn’d be there any minute and it just seemed even more awkward if Willow or Faith were spotted scurrying into the house as the car approached.  That whole situation was still a big knotted mess.  But she’d figure it out, Dawn would come out of this okay.  Maybe she needed therapy or something?  Buffy made a mental note to ask Spike what he thought about it later.

Buffy’s own plan to get Dawn on the right track would hopefully be set into motion tonight.  She was going to ask Dawn to move back to the complex with her, keep her close.  Maybe she’d give her the apartment next door, that way she still had her own space.  She wanted to nurture, not smother.  Her original plan had been to ask at Christmas before Dawn went back to classes, appeal to her sense of reason by noting how economic it’d be, but that sort of failed before it got a chance to get off the ground.  All hope was not lost, though, it just might be a little more difficult if Dawn had already settled into her dorm.

Buffy sat on the porch, humming a tune to herself.  No song in particular, just a mixture of a few 90s pop songs she’d seen on some countdown show.  She peered down the street in each direction, looking for Dawn’s familiar car.  After what felt like fifty forevers worth of boring, the car came into view.  She wouldn’t call it a sight for sore eyes, since she hadn’t had a terrible time or anything like that staying with Willow, but it was just nice to see.  She felt her heart sort of swell up, unsure of whether or not she’d be able to control the urge to tackle her kid sister the very second she got pulled into the driveway and stepped out of the car.  She stood, using her arms to push her weight up.  A little painful, but worth it.  A wide grin was plastered stupidly onto her face as she waited to greet her Dawnie with what she was now certain would be the bear hug of a lifetime.